Goodbye to Angi and Dante

Two of our friends, Angi and Dante, are leaving Oklahoma City and heading home to Ohio. We went to their lovely goodbye party. Of course, we took zero photos with them but a million photos with their daughter, Olivia. Story of our lives, Angi and Danta. Story of our lives. Here are some photos from the party, none of which include the two adults who are moving.

Chatting with Alison, probably talking about how appalled we are about something.

Leigh with Chad and Carrie Dean.

Thank you, Dawn, for taking this photo!

Julie and Mark's son, Samuel, is a doll! Look at this little man!

This was as good as it was going to get for getting all three kids in one photo. Olivia is busy with her milk.

Leigh with Mandy, Chad and Carrie Dean.

Bryan read to Mia.

Mia loved the decorations.

Here she is again, trying to steal them.

Kisses for Jenni! I love this.

Mia using her outdoor voice.

Mia and Many.

Mia drawing a picture.

Mia, Mandy, Jennifer and Samuel.



New Year's Eve

We celebrated New Year's Eve this year with so many wonderful friends. First we went to the Marks' house for a kind of kid-friendly pajama party. We put Mia in her PJs and let her run around with all the other kids. Our friends randomly snatched her up to snap some photos with her.

Then Jill was nice enough to let Mia stay the night so we could go out for a grown-up party! It was so fun. We danced and saw all of our friends we hadn't seen in a long time. It was such a great New Year's.

Partaaay

So today was the big party. Mia, of course, probably didn't know it was her birthday party. I'm pretty sure she was just excited about the playground equipment.

We packed up the coolers and Mia helped.

Then she demanded that Leigh's dad help her carry one of the coolers all over the yard.
We celebrated with lots of good friends. Once again we had a decorate-your-own-cupcake station. Mia decorated three.



Then she enjoyed her own cupcake - the world's best cupcake ever. Our friend Alison, who is an absolutely baking superstar, made her a cake in the shape of the Arcadia Round Barn, which is a Route 66 icon in Oklahoma.

Then, we opened presents. Because even if you tell people that they don't have to bring presents, they bring presents. To be fair, shopping for a 2-year-old is pretty fun. Mia got tons of board books, which is fantastic. She wants to turn the pages and we've lost a few paper books that way. (If you try to turn the pages when she wants to, she'll quickly say, "No. Stop, mama." She also got some cute clothes and fun toys.

It was such a fun day, but I still can't believe she's 2. Remember when she was a teeny-tiny baby?

More from the Dean wedding

I snagged some photos from Deaner from his wedding day. Hooray!

Guess who won?

Not me. It was a bowling tournament.

Some friends and I participated in the Central Oklahoma Parrothead Association's annual bowling tournament. We were local media celebrities, which is an overstatement for sure. It was Jenni Carlson, Ubaldo Martinez and me, plus our friend Carrie Dean, who got to be a media representative just because she's great. It was so much fun! Jenni ended up winning, but Ubaldo was close behind. I, however, was not. I was in a league of my own, scoring in the double digits. Sad.

S'more s'mores

We went to the best food party of the year: Soup and S'mores! Jenni and Ryan make all kinds of soups and then we make s'mores outside. Fantastic. Leigh gets quite excited about this. Why? Because South Africans don't have s'mores. They have lots of good things, but this isn't one of them. So sad. So we ate and ate and ate. Oh. And hung out with friends and stuff. That was nice, too.

Fear the beard!

As you may know, I am the biggest James Harden fan ever. Well, today I had the chance to meet him. I was, of course, calm and collected. No - I was a complete idiot! But that's OK because I got this:

Long story short: he was amazing!

Short story long: I'll tell you what happened. I worked from home this morning because my pal Mike Caton was fixing up our bathroom. Carrie Dean and I decided to have lunch. Then I heard from Michael Kimball that the Thunder would be arriving at the airport at 3:30 p.m. So then I said to Carrie, let's go see them on my lunch break. So our friend, Susanne Temple, decided she'd leave work early and meet us at the airport. The three of us would all arrive to cheer our faces off for the best NBA team ever!

Well, the bathroom repair took a turn for the worse. This sealant Mike put down made me feel awful, so I had Carrie pick me up early. We drove down to the airport and turns out, the Thunder was early! There they were, getting off the plane, and it was just me, Carrie Dean, two random ladies and two TV stations. Susanne wasn't even there yet and they were already walking across the tarmac. I called her: "Susanne, don't even worry about coming down here. They're already here. And nobody's here, so we feel really awkward. We can't even cheer because there aren't enough people - OH MY GOD - GO THUNDER! WOOOOO! GO THUNDER! WOOOOOOOOOOO! Seriously, it's really awkward and they'll be gone by the time you're here."

The Thunder just came home after two losses in Los Angeles, so they were not in the mood to walk all the way over to meet four weirdo stalkers. So we got back in the car and made a plan!

All the players were leaving through the same gate, so I asked Carrie Dean to take me over to a parking lot facing the road. We would wait there, I decided, until James Harden drove by in his amazing SUV.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Carrie Dean asked.

"I don't know!"

She suggested maybe I make a plan. Oh, the voice of reason. But there wasn't time because he drove right past us. I screamed and waved frantically with both hands like I was an old lady who just won at the bingo hall. He kind of half waved and then looked a little concerned. I'm sure he was wondering what this psycho was doing. Then I realized I was yelling inside the car. He couldn't hear me. So I jumped out of the car, forgetting my crutches, which are a little necessary. It hurt but I didn't care.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE MY FAVORITE WILL YOU TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME YOU ARE MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!!"

I put spaces between those words to make it easier to read. It was more than a run-on sentence. It was a run-on word.

He smiled and then pulled over. He actually pulled over! Imagine a player from any other team doing that. No way. That's why I love the Thunder so much. They're all actually nice people, unlike some NBA players. So this is how the conversation went down:

Me (frantic, breathless): "Oh my god - thank you so much! You are my absolute favorite player. Can I take a picture with you?"

James Harden (calm, normal): "No prob. Oh - what happened to you?" (points at my crutches)

Me (feeling a little like a badass): "Oh, I tore my ACL playing soccer."

James Harden (genuine, nice): "Oh shoot! Do you have to have surgery."

Me (awkward, nervous): "Yeah, later this summer."

At this point, we turn to take the picture. He puts his arm over my shoulder and I put my arm around his waist and realize that if I was any shorter, I would have put my arm accidentally around his butt. Then I really would have looked like a stalker.

Me (terrified that if I linger to long it will get even more awkward): "Thank you so much for taking a picture with me. You are my absolutely favorite."

James Harden (unfazed by my weirdness): "No problem. Get well!"

Me (awed): "Thanks!"

James Harden (acting normal): "Oh yeah - I like your shirt!"

Me (girly, giddy): "Thank you!"

That's when we parted ways - me to tell the story to every person I meet, him to go on with his life as normal.

Now, if you don't know about my shirt, you must go here. The Broingtons made me fall in love with the Thunder and James Harden in particular. There's a brief moment where he does the robot and I just love it. He's awesome. And what group of NBA stars are going to make a viral video just messing around? Nobody but Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and James Harden.

So now I'm an even bigger fan because he is the nicest person ever. Seriously - so nice. I wish James Harden and I were friends. But I'm pretty sure I blew it when I started waving my hands like a weirdo. Oh well. At least I have a picture.